


Trip, Stumble & Fall

by Laedes



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 13:07:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4264311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laedes/pseuds/Laedes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hikaru has a hard time staying mad at Pavel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trip, Stumble & Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for Challenge 4 (“In The Doghouse Again”) of the Star Trek Ship Wars @ [st-respect](http://st-respect.livejournal.com/) on LiveJournal back in 2010.
> 
> Crossposted on [Tumblr](http://laedes.tumblr.com/post/123147790898/trip-stumble-fall).

Pavel was sitting alone in the mess, picking at his food. Hikaru was eating with the captain a few tables over; he hadn’t looked once in Pavel’s direction since he had entered the room. Kirk kept glancing at him, though, so Pavel knew they were probably talking about him. He sighed and went back to pushing what looked vaguely like rice around his plate.

“Trouble in paradise?”

Pavel raised his head to frown at Uhura.

“I… I don’t understand what you mean.”

“You and Sulu,” Uhura said, putting her tray on the table and sitting down in front of Pavel. “You haven’t talked all day. What is it this time?”

“We…” Pavel hesitated. He didn’t like talking about his private life, especially when it wasn’t going so well, but then again, this was Uhura. Pavel also reasoned that the only other person she would repeat this particular talk to would be Spock, and he wasn’t exactly known for his propensity for adding to the ship’s rumor mill.

“We had an argument this morning.”

“What was it about?”

“I might have, ah, killed one of his plants,” Pavel admitted, and he felt himself starting to blush with shame and guilt when Uhura grimaced.

“I do hope for you it wasn’t Gertrude.”

“Oh, no!” Pavel exclaimed, not even wanting to think about what would have happened if it had indeed been Sulu’s beloved Gertrude. “No, it was only a plant he brought back from shore leave last month.”

“What happened?”

“I left some of my things on the floor last night, in his room. He tripped on them this morning when he got up and he knocked the plant down. The flowerpot was all broken,” Pavel explained. “I think he also hurt his ankle but he was only angry about the plant. He said he was tired of me leaving my things around.”

“If it can make you feel better, I don’t think he’s going to stay very mad at you just for that.”

“I don’t know,” Pavel sighed. “He looked like he was still in a very bad mood this morning on the bridge.”

“It’s going to be okay,” Uhura insisted, briefly touching his hand. “It’s always harder for couples serving on a ship, especially on the same deck and on the same shifts. You spend so much time together in the same place, you sometimes get irritated because of the most insignificant things. Trust me, I know.”

Pavel looked up at her in disbelief. He couldn’t imagine her or Spock losing their calm and getting mad at each other, even less so over inconsequential matters. Uhura only smiled and glanced pointedly at his tray.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it, alright? And eat a little, you’re skinny enough as it is.”

• • •

Hikaru was trying very hard not to glance in Pavel’s direction.

“He looks like a kicked puppy, you know,” Kirk said.

“I know.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen him look that miserable in a while. It almost makes me want to go over and hug him.”

“ _I know_ ,” Hikaru growled again. “And don’t. Go and hug him, I mean. He wouldn’t like that.”

“ _He_ wouldn’t or _you_ wouldn’t?”

“Please, don’t make things harder than they already are. Do you think I enjoy giving him the silent treatment?”

“Come on, it was only a plant,” Kirk shrugged. “You already have hundreds of those. Why don’t you just go to him, accept his apologies and then have some vanilla make-up sex or whatever you guys like to do in bed?”

Hikaru threw him a dirty look.

“What? You’d prefer some angry sex first? That’s great too. I remember that time when I…”

“With all due respect, _Captain_ , this is not about you and your unbridled sex life. And no, I won’t tell you about what kind of sex Pavel and I like to have.”

“Lieutenant, you’re no fun. Anyway, what are you going to do? You’re not going to stay mad at him forever, are you?”

“I’m not really mad at him. It’s just… We’ve talked about this stuff before, you know. About him leaving things lying around. I don’t care if he does it in his quarters, but he had agreed he wouldn’t do it in mine anymore, only he started doing it again, and now my ankle hurts like a bitch and his plant is probably dead.”

“Wait. _His_ plant?”

Hikaru groaned.

“Promise not to tell anyone?”

“Promise.”

“Not even the doc?”

“Aww, come on, Bones doesn’t count,” Kirk protested. “Whatever I know, Bones knows, that’s just how it works. But I’m pretty sure he won’t repeat it to anyone, you know how he feels about gossip.”

“Yeah, alright. I bought this plant last month, when we were on shore leave. It’s not rare or anything, it’s not even very expensive, but it was first discovered thirty years ago by that Russian xenobotanist who named it after a town near Moscow he used to live in, so I thought it would please Pavel,” Hikaru explained. “I only wanted to make it grow a bit more and see if it did well outside of the botany lab before giving it to him.”

Hikaru finally noticed Kirk’s goofy grin and frowned.

“What? That’s not funny.”

“Of course it’s not. It’s _adorable_.”

“Oh, fuck you.”

“Thank you, but no thank you,” Kirk retorted, still grinning. “That ass is already spoken for. You still haven’t told me what you’re going to do.”

“I don’t know. What would you do?”

“I’d probably start by paying a visit to sickbay about this sprained ankle.”

“That is so not what you would do.”

“ _Touché_ ,” Kirk admitted. “But I’m your captain, so do as I say, not as I do.”

“Yeah, well, I was planning to go after my shift anyway.”

“Good. And please find a way to make up with Chekov, I don’t like having people moping around my bridge. On a totally unrelated note, are you going to eat that chicken wing?”

• • •

“Didn’t it occur to you to come see me sooner?” McCoy asked, stalking to the biobed Hikaru was currently sitting on with one boot off. McCoy sat down on a rolling stool and put Hikaru’s foot on his knee to examine it. “Say, this morning, when you sprained your ankle, and not _over ten hours later_. I swear, this entire crew is taking after its captain. And before you ask, I don’t mean that as a compliment.”

Hikaru tried to look at least a little contrite, but McCoy wasn’t even looking at his face, so he gave up and leaned back on his hands, sighing.

“Sorry, doc. I had other things on my mind.”

“Let me guess, our Russian navigator?”

“Kirk’s already spilled the beans, uh?”

“Please,” McCoy said, looking up at Hikaru and raising an eyebrow at him. “I don’t need Jim to notice you two have been spending the day avoiding each other. What did you do? Sit on his favorite tribble again?”

“First, that only happened once, and the thing was still completely fine and purring afterward. Second, why would I always be the one at fault? Pavel’s not a total angel, despite what this ship seems to think.”

“I know,” McCoy said, patting Hikaru’s calf before getting up. He came back with anti-inflammatory cream and warmed up some of it between his hands before putting it on Hikaru’s ankle, carefully massaging it into the skin. Hikaru had to admit, it felt incredibly good.

“Can I ask you a personal question?”

“You can,” McCoy said, “but I won’t necessarily answer it.”

“Do you and Kirk fight?”

McCoy peered up at him for a few seconds before answering.

“Of course we do. All the time. But that’s just the way Jim and I are. I doubt you and the kid are in the habit of getting into yelling matches, are you?”

“No,” Sulu admitted. “But doesn’t it bother you? Fighting with Kirk like this?”

“Not really. I never fought with the ex-wife, and look what happened. I’m not saying that’s how it works for everyone,” McCoy amended, seeing Hikaru wince. “Some couples fight, others don’t. As for Jim and I, that’s just our way of coping with, well, bigger things. It’s almost never personal.”

“I see.”

“I don’t think you really can, but that’s okay,” McCoy corrected, a small smile tugging at his lips. He stopped massaging Hikaru’s ankle and got up to wash his hands. “Look, you and Chekov are good for each other. And whatever either of you did, I bet it wasn’t even that serious to begin with. So why don’t you just get it over with your little lovers’ quarrel?”

“Yeah,” Hikaru sighed. “I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am, that’s why I’m a doctor,” McCoy said. “Also, there’s a cute little ensign over there just dying to see you.”

Hikaru craned his neck to look behind him and sure enough, Pavel was there, standing near the entrance to sickbay, cradling a plant in his arms. McCoy nodded at him; Pavel hesitated, then walked up to Hikaru’s biobed. Hikaru almost didn’t notice McCoy leaving them to check on other patients, so startled he was to recognize the plant Pavel was holding as the very one he had knocked over this morning, except it looked just fine.

“Pavel? How did you…” Hikaru stuttered, reaching out to touch the leaves.

“I brought it to the botany lab this morning after you left,” Pavel said, peering anxiously at Hikaru’s face. “I’ve just gone down there to get it back. They had to cut it a little on this side, see, but they repotted it, and they also put something in the dirt, but I can’t remember the name. They say it’s going to be alright now, you only have to…”

“I’m sorry,” Hikaru blurted out, looking up at Pavel.

Pavel only looked back at him in surprise, unsure what to answer.

“I’m sorry,” Hikaru repeated. “I didn’t mean to get so mad at you. It wasn’t really your fault, it was just a stupid accident.” He gave Pavel a tentative smile. “You know how clumsy I am in the morning anyway.”

“No, no, I’m sorry!” Pavel exclaimed. “You always put up with my bad habits.”

“Hey, I have bad habits too, you know.”

“Yes, but I’ve never gotten _hurt_ because of them,” Pavel countered, glancing down at Hikaru’s naked foot. “How is your ankle?”

“It’s fine. I’ll just have to keep from running around the ship for a few days.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Now that you mention, I think you’ll have to help me put some cream on it. You’ll also have to massage my feet every night until it gets better.”

“Doctor’s orders?” Pavel asked, smiling.

“Sort of. McCoy didn’t say it explicitly, but I think that was the general idea, yes,” he said, pulling Pavel down for a kiss. It was a bit messy – they couldn’t stop smiling against each other’s mouths, and they had to be careful not to crush the plant between them – but Hikaru still felt his heart swell up a little.

“There’s still something I have to tell you about the plant,” Hikaru said when they separated.

“Let me help you back to your quarters first, _da_? I think McCoy doesn’t like us kissing in his sickbay. Then you can tell me all about the plant.”

“Before or after we have make-up sex?” Hikaru grinned.

Pavel only grinned back at him.


End file.
